Employee Profile Setting
Every client wants the employee screens to behave slightly differently. One insists the father's name is mandatory, another never collects religion and wants the field gone, a third wants the nationality pre-filled. This is the screen where those decisions are made, per People Directory screen and per field, without changing anything in the product.
What it is for
The employee screens carry a lot of fields, because between them they have to serve a textile mill, a hospital and a software house. Very few clients want all of them, and most clients want one or two of them made compulsory. Arguing with the product over that is the wrong answer, and so is leaving an HR officer to remember which fields the company's policy requires.
This screen holds those decisions. Each line names a People Directory screen, a field on it, and what should happen to that field for this company: make it mandatory, disable it, hide it, or give it a default value. One record covers one legal entity, so a group running two companies in PeopleNest can collect different things in each.
Four behaviours, and they are worth separating clearly.
Mandatory means the field must be filled before a record can be saved, even though the product does not require it. Disabled means the field is visible but cannot be typed into, which is how you show something without letting HR change it. Hidden means the field is not shown at all, which is right for a field the company genuinely never collects. A default value means the field arrives pre-filled, and HR can still change it unless you have also disabled it.
The second list attaches extra validations to a screen: client specific checks that go beyond making a field mandatory. These come from the validation library and are chosen, not written here.
This is also the answer to a question that comes up on nearly every implementation. When a client asks for a field to be compulsory or removed on an employee screen, this is where it is done. It is not a change to the screen and it is not something that has to be developed.
Every field, in plain words
Basic
| Field | What it means | What to put in it | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal Entity | The company these settings apply to | 01 Hilal Textile Mills (Pvt) Ltd | Required. One settings record per legal entity, and a second one for the same company is refused |
Field behaviour
One line per field you are changing the behaviour of. Leave a field alone and it behaves as the product intends.
| Field | What it means | What to put in it | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Line | Line number | Fills itself | |
| Screen | Which People Directory screen the field is on | Employee Basic Information | Pick it from the list of screens |
| Field | Which field on that screen | Father Name | Pick it from the list of fields on the screen you chose |
| Value | A value the field arrives pre-filled with | PK on the nationality field | Leave it empty unless you want a default |
| Is Mandatory | The field must be filled before the record can be saved | Ticked on Father Name | |
| Is Disable | The field is shown but cannot be typed into | Ticked on a field that is pre-filled and must not be changed | |
| Is Hidden | The field is not shown at all | Ticked on Military Position | Do not hide a field that already has data in it without checking what reads that data |
Extra validations
| Field | What it means | What to put in it | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Line | Line number | Fills itself | |
| Screen | Which People Directory screen the validation runs on | Employee Basic Information | Pick it from the list |
| Special Validation | Which extra check to apply | The client specific check from the validation library | Pick it from the list. These are chosen, not written on this screen |
How to configure it
- Go through the employee screens with the client's HR team and write down three lists: what they must collect, what they never collect, and what should be filled in for them.
- Open this screen and create the record for the legal entity. There is only one per company.
- For each field the client must collect, add a line with the screen, the field, and Is Mandatory ticked.
- For each field they never collect, add a line with Is Hidden ticked. Check first that nothing downstream depends on it, and never hide a field the product itself requires.
- For each field that should arrive pre-filled, add a line with the Value set. Add Is Disable as well if HR must not change it.
- Add any extra validations the client needs on the second list, one line per screen and check.
- Save, then open the screens you have changed and confirm each one behaves as expected before HR starts entering people.
Scenarios
HR insists the father's name and the identity card are compulsory
Two lines, both on Employee Basic Information, with Is Mandatory ticked on the father's name and on the primary identification. From then on a record without them cannot be saved, and no HR officer has to be reminded.
The client never records religion or military service
Lines with Is Hidden ticked on those fields. The screen gets shorter and nobody is tempted to fill them in inconsistently. Hide them before go live rather than after data has been entered.
Every employee is Pakistani and nobody should have to pick it
A line on the nationality field with the Value set to Pakistan, and Is Disable ticked if it must never be changed. New records arrive with it filled in. If the company later hires a foreign engineer, untick Is Disable rather than deleting the line.
Two companies in the group collect different things
Two settings records, one per legal entity, each with its own lines. That is why the record is per legal entity rather than one for the whole installation.
A field we made mandatory is now blocking a bulk upload of old records
Untick Is Mandatory for the duration of the load and put it back afterwards. The setting applies at the moment of saving, so it affects whatever is being saved, including a load of historical data.
What it is connected to
- Every People Directory screen is affected by what is set here, including Employee Basic Information, Employee Organization Assignment, Employee Contact and the history screens.
- It applies to one legal entity, so settings and the companies in the installation have to be kept in step.
- It cannot override a rule the product itself enforces. A field the product requires cannot be made optional or hidden here.
- Other modules have their own equivalent settings screen. This one governs People Directory only.
If something looks wrong
- "I made a field mandatory and nothing changed" - check the screen named on the line is the screen HR is actually using, and that the settings record is for the right legal entity.
- "It will not let me create a second settings record" - there is one per legal entity. Open the existing one.
- "A field we hid still appears" - the line names a different screen from the one being used, or the field is required by the product and cannot be hidden.
- "The default value does not come in on existing records" - a default fills a new record. It does not go back and change records that already exist.
- "HR can still change a field we pre-filled" - a default value alone does not lock the field. Tick Is Disable as well.